Aquaculture systems have been around for many years. Various devices have been proposed for providing aerating systems for all types of fish. See for example, U.S. Patents 463,397 to Walton; 3,196,833 to Glancy; 3,418,973 to Saito; 3,661,119 to Sanders; 3,709,195 to Tabb; 3,795,225 to Ogui; 4,257,351 to Scura et al.; 4,317,429 to Leighton et al.; 4,972,801 to Hunt; 5,092,268 to Taylor; 5,320,068 to Redditt; and 5,762,024 to Meilahn.
Glancy '833, Saito '973, Sanders '119, Ogui '225, and Hunt '801 each describe various fish tank systems that are generally landlocked and do not allow for the easy use of seawater for aeration purposes, and thus would not provide a good environment for the culture of live seafood such as clam seeds.
Walton, Sr. '397 and Leighton et al. '429 each describe floating panels having screened bottoms but do not describe techniques for aerating any water flow through the screens.
Tabb '195 describes a method for hatching and growing marine organisms using an airpumped floatation raft. However, Tabb '195 requires a separate pump 46 to pump in seawater, and does not aerate the water passing into the enclosed raft and does not provide any screened units for supporting separated culture environments for different sizes of seafood, nor for providing either any upwelling nor downwelling water flows into the enclosed raft.
Meilan '024 describes an aquaculture system wherein seawater can be pumped along with oxygen into a floating aquaculture container. However, Meilan '024 requires both an electric type water pump 30 and a separate oxygen diffuser 58 FIG. 5, the latter of which requires an "oxygen generator or bottles of liquid oxygen. . . (for) injecting the oxygen into pressurized sea water", column 5, lines 12-15. Furthermore, Meilan does not describe being able to raise and lower the floating container with the same air supplies, nor does the system describe both upwelling and downwelling water flow aeration of the seafood.
Redditt '068 describes an "automatic oxygenation system for aquaculture" where oxygenated seawater can be pumped into the floating container. However, Redditt '068 requires both an electric type water pump 190 and separate aerator 175 FIG. 8. Furthermore, Redditt '068 does not describe being able to raise and lower the floating container with the same air supplies, nor does the system describe both upwelling and downwelling water flow aeration of the seafood.
Both Meilan '024 and Reddit '068 require mechanical operating electrically powered pumps that must operate under a constant load while pumping water. These types of pumps generally require extensive maintenance due to their multiple moving parts such as bearings and seals that can fail and need to be replaced. Furthermore, these types of electric pumps generally require power sources to be located in or close to the water locations causing an inherent potential for electrical shock to both workers and the organisms being cultured.
Scura et al. '351 describes a "bivalve production flume", title, with "upwelling" features for seawater cultivation. However, Scura et al. '351 requires elaborate seafloor trenches and complex distribution system, and does not use any floatation boxes nor airpumps for both the upwelling and downwelling operations.
The aeration type systems of the prior art can inherently can create the potential for gas bubble disease by mixing both pressure pumped water and a separate pumped oxygen source.
None of the cited patents individually nor in combination describe a system having the capability of using a airpump to aerate seawater in either an upwell or downwell process within a floatation box holding seafood such as clam seeds, where the box is also floated by the same airpump. into a floatation box unit.